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Growing concerns have emerged regarding the possibility of warfare among East African neighbours, the Ethiopian government and the Eritrean government, as aggressive rhetoric has intensified in recent weeks.

What Has Ethiopian Officials Stated?

Landlocked Ethiopia's demands for passage to the sea coast through Eritrean territory has sparked a fierce verbal exchange.

PM Abiy Ahmed initially stated publicly in 2023 that his nation's maritime access was an crucial concern, comments that Eritrean authorities rejected.

Relations between the neighboring nations have regularly been difficult. Following a prolonged fight for sovereignty, the Eritrean state, which has a 1,350km (840-mile) Red Sea coastline, formally separated from Ethiopia in 1993, leaving it without sea access.

Subsequently, a military clash broke out in which over a hundred thousand people were killed.

Recent Comments from Ethiopian Government

Prime Minister Abiy and army chief General Birhanu Jula have publicly asserted control of Eritrea's southern port of the port of Assab – approximately 60 kilometers from the border - and implied the desire to seize it militarily.

In early September, Abiy said the country's "error" of losing entry to the Red Sea as a due to Eritrea secession would be "corrected in the future".

Ethiopia's ambassador to Kenya, former General Bacha Debele, said that the port was "Ethiopian property" and would be returned "by force".

Eritrea's Response to the Threats

In the face of persistent challenges from Ethiopia, Eritrea's response has been limited to concise remarks on online platforms from Communications Head Yemane Gebremeskel.

Officials have denied Ethiopia's demand for access to the Red Sea describing it as "risky" and a "negative policy" of "irredentism" – a strategy of claiming back lost territory.

Eritrean authorities alerted on recently that efforts to legitimise "flagrant aggression" would have significant repercussions for the Ethiopian government and its neighbors and is a "redline that should not be crossed|violated|breached".

Military Movements on the Border

So far, there are little evidence of major military movements in the border areas between the two countries.

Nonetheless, in the country, government media has displayed training completions of numerous trainees at different defense facilities.

The head of personnel division of the armed forces, the officer, recently said in an interview that the military was in a "strong stance" as "tens of thousands of youths" were entering service, which he said was "a signal to our enemies".

Previous Origins of the Tension

For more than half a century from the late 19th century, the territory was ruled by Italian colonisers.

Following the end of Italian rule, it was then administered by the British administration before evolving into a integrated region of the Ethiopian empire.

Yet in 1962 the Ethiopian emperor ended this system and Eritrea became fully incorporated into Ethiopia.

A thirty-year armed struggle followed, concluding with the government's loss in the early 1990s. Autonomy was then approved by the population in a plebiscite in 1993.

For a few years in the 1990s, there were friendly connections between the governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara, but they clashed over the specific demarcation of their shared boundary, causing war in 1998.

Even though this concluded in a ceasefire agreement in 2000, it was partially applied, and the both countries continued at loggerheads.

This ended in 2018, when the Prime Minister made approaches to Eritrean President the president. The two agreed to a declaration that the war was over – a action that gained Abiy the international recognition.

The neighboring states were then cooperators in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 internal conflict in Tigray.

However diplomatic connections have later worsened again.